Boondocking in the Uinta Mountains, Utah

On August 19, 2021, we left for a three-night stay at a boondocking site we identified last year in this same area. The site is located at 40.805360, -110.874998. We had no reservations but were open to staying in the Washington Lake campground, returning to the last location where we camped, or trying something new in this area. We found the location available and moved right in. It is a lovely spot right on the Hayden Fork of the Bear River. The view from our trailer was phenomenal, as pictured. The site was quite level and required nothing more than our new leveling wedges. The following picture illustrates how close we were to the river and how level and easy the site was to occupy. We’ll certainly return to this site.

We fished the Hayden Fork for a few hours on Thursday with no luck at all. We used our float tubes and fished on the nearby Butterfly Lake for nearly 9 hours on Friday. On Saturday, the weather was not cooperative, and we spent most of the day in the trailer reading, playing games, watching movies, etc. We ventured out between 6 pm and 8 pm to fish the river and found some success. Shortly after returning, a huge black cloud approached, it got very dark, and the lightning, thunder, and hail began. We enjoyed listening to the hail on the trailer’s roof and hunkered down for a cozy and relaxing evening. Sunday morning was beautiful, sunny, and warmed quickly. Again, we spent a relaxing day before returning home to the events of another week.

This was a quick and relaxing trip. We slept in each day, fished, played board games, watched movies, and ate great food. It was the last of summer in the Uintas. The highs were in the mid 60’s and the lows in the high 30’s. While I don’t think it has yet frozen at this location, there were very few insects and virtually no mosquitos. It was simply beautiful and relaxing.

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Riverside Campground, Idaho

On June 14, 2021, we traveled to one of our favorite campgrounds, Riverside in Idaho. This was our first outing of 2021 and is one of the latest starts to a camping season we have had. We’ve been to Riverside Campground many times. We had reservations for site A1 for 14 days and looked forward to a very relaxing stay. It isn’t our favorite site, but we wanted our family members and friends to have the nicer spots. It is such a lovely place, but the weather in July is a bit warm for not using the AC. It was a bit smoky at times due to the Oregon and California wildfires, but that didn’t hinder us from floating the river, fishing, etc.

Site A1 is across the campground road from the Henry’s Fork River, and site A2, a lovely site, is right across the road. The site has plenty of room. Loops A and B are paved in this campground, while loop C has gravel roads and parking spots. Loop C is a bit more primitive, and that’s intriguing, but the forest is a bit thinner, resulting in less privacy between sites. Just writing about the place makes me want to return.

While at Riverside, we spent a little time each day fishing. The fishing wasn’t great, but we had fun and enjoyed passing the time doing something we love to do together. Unfortunately, we were told the fishing at Henry’s Lake wasn’t any good this year, so yet again, we didn’t go. We’ll get there another day. During the first week of our stay, we had friends join us. During the second week, we had family join us. Both were so much fun to interact with; we look forward to doing it again.

On June 28th, we had to pack up and leave. We ate at Maddox Ranch House for dinner and headed home. Unfortunately, along our route, our right rear tire on the trailer had a blowout. We successfully pulled to the right on the freeway, a highway patrol officer helped us out, but the blowout caused significant cosmetic damage to the trailer. The damage will have to be fixed, but it won’t keep us from camping until it is.

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